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In Your Opinion

donalddoowop

donalddoowop

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Who is the best female high school basketball player you ever saw in person and who is the best female high school basketball player, excluding mix tapes, you ever saw period, whether in person, youtube, television or videos?

I saw in person Kristin Fokyl, a great athlete who helped her high school win four straight volleyball and basketball state championships. However, the very best basketball player I saw in person is Napheesa Collier. We don't get many female high school basketball players in the St. Louis area who are ranked in the top ten in the country.
 
My high school basketball viewing has been pretty limited beyond the teams for the schools where I’ve taught, but...

When I was in high school, I played against the 6’3” Frazee triplets at Xenia Christian (OH) — Molly, Megan, and Moriah. The tallest player on our team was 5’9”, so you can draw your own conclusions on that part of the tale...

Megan was the best of the three (and the best I’ve seen in person, to answer your original question) and rumor had it there were loads of major offers, but the three sisters were adamant about playing together in college, so they landed at Liberty. She ended up nearly averaging a double double for her career at Liberty and then spent a year in the WNBA and a couple years in Europe.
 
I've never in my life attended a women's high school basketball game. Or any high school game of any sort excepting some football games when I was in HS and all of my son's lacrosse games when he was in HS. For the most part I don't watch sports unless I have a rooting interest (usually for but sometimes against) in one of the teams. Some exceptions are world series, NCAA tournament games, pro tennis.

Even with these limitations I manage to watch a ton of sports. My wife is totally disinterested in sports of all kinds, so adding more sports to my viewing schedule isn't in my best interest.;)
 
The best high school girls player I ever saw in person was Tracy Lis, Killingly High class of 1988. She was an absolute lights out shooter from deep and scored over 3600 career points, a Connecticut record by a lot. I saw her play in high school at Central Connecticut, can't remember the opponent but I think it was a tournament game. She was on fire. They won the Class A title.

She also had an outstanding career at Providence, scoring over 2500 points.

The best high school boys player I ever saw was "Rocket" Rod Foster, saw him at Trinity College playing for Saint Thomas Aquinas of New Britain against South Catholic of Hartford, who was led by a pretty decent player named John Pinone. Foster's speed level was jaw dropping, never saw anything remotely like it from a high school player. Unfortunately, both schools have been closed for many years now. Foster played at UCLA and Pinone, of course, played at Villanova.
 
I can name 4 players, in alpha order by last name.

Layshia Clarendon--Cajon HS--Single handidly led her team to straight CIF Southern Section championships in 2008 and 2009. She can do everything and never came out of the game. Her clashes with Mater Dei and Brea were classics(both had much deeper teams) Played at Cal

Cassie Harberts- San Clemente HS Had the size and talent to play the 3, 4 or 5 spots. Often got doubled team, especially her senior year when all of the good talent on her previous teams had graduated. She won a CIF Southern section championship her freshman year. She was recruited by UConn, Geno and CD came to her home, but she stayed closer to home at USC.

Kelsey Plum- La Jolla Country Day--was one of the most dominating players in So Cal I have seen. Since there was not enough competitive teams in the San Diego area, her team almost always had to travel to Orange or LA counties to get good games. She did everything on the court, except play the middle and most of her teams didnt have a big anyway. She played for Washington

Katie Lou Samuelson--Mater Dei HS-- Did everything for MDHS-- There isnt enough I can say about what she did on the court. It was worth leaving work early on her game days to watch her play. Watching Geno show up for her games was fun too. She was recruited by many schools but decided to go to some school named UConn.
 
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I hate to say it, but Charde Houston.... she was a beast in H.S., had a couple of very good years in the WNBA, but was mostly a perplexing disappointment at UConn.
I'm hoping as Ice Brady develops, I can say she is the best I ever saw in person in H.S. :)
 
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For me, in person is Azzi Fudd. She is so intentional and deceptive as well as accurate. Everyone knows she is going to score but when and where in the possession is the question.. ..

On tape, I'm a fan of the 3pt shot so KML's shot was just beautiful and the memory sticks with me. She was just automatic and deadly along with them all carbon copies of each other. So consistent. Being an East coaster, I never saw her live in high school.
 
Elena Della Donne. She could and did it all. 3 state HS titles in basketball and I believe one in volleyball. In most eyes, clear #1 recruit. Also enjoyed seeing her play at Univ of Delaware. In her league, a woman among girls.
 
Best I saw in person was Suzie McConnell. She played her high school ball at Seton-LaSalle high school in Pittsburgh,Pa. Seton LaSalle was the coeducational successor to my alma mater of South Hills Catholic. The McConnell sisters were fine athletes.
 
I've hardly seen any live HS girls basketball. By default probably the best HS player I've seen in person was Van Lith this last season.

Outside of HS, I saw Taurasi once during her Fr. year w/ UConn and at some point in the middle of her pro career. I think that's a pretty safe choice for best player I've seen live.

I've gone to plenty of UW games over the years, I've seen all the stud players from Stanford starting with Nicole Powell. Wiggins, the Ogwumikes, etc. I only caught Ionescu live once, she didn't have a particularly good game that day. Outside of that loaded UConn team I saw, I'd put Plum right near the top of the list of best college players I saw. Caught Vandersloot a couple times too.
 
HopJim said:
Elena Della Donne. She could and did it all. 3 state HS titles in basketball and I believe one in volleyball. In most eyes, clear #1 recruit. Also enjoyed seeing her play at Univ of Delaware. In her league, a woman among girls.
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Me as well. She was very dominant in high school.

Alyssa Thomas would be 2nd. Literally no one could guard her. Everyone knew she couldn't shoot the three point shot but she was so powerful for her age she couldn't be stopped going to the basket.
 
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In person, Kara Lawson. She had her full strength in high school and was very much a woman playing against girls. And on a court where no one was quicker than she was, she was absolutely unstoppable on both ends.
 
Saw a few high school girls' games when I was in high school as I had "interest" in a couple of girls on the team. A few of them went on to play in college for Division II teams but in general, there wasn't much interest in girls' high school sports of any kind. High school football and boys' basketball were the sports of interest.

A local charity put on a boys high school basketball tournament that attracted top catholic high school teams from across the country bringing in teams from Baltimore, Philly, Washington D.C., New York, and Chicago among other areas. My high school was the host school and usually was crushed. In any case, the best player I saw attending those games was Adrian Dantley from DeMatha high school.
 
Huskee11 said:
The best high school girls player I ever saw in person was Tracy Lis, Killingly High class of 1988. She was an absolute lights out shooter from deep and scored over 3600 career points, a Connecticut record by a lot. I saw her play in high school at Central Connecticut, can't remember the opponent but I think it was a tournament game. She was on fire. They won the Class A title.

She also had an outstanding career at Providence, scoring over 2500 points.

The best high school boys player I ever saw was "Rocket" Rod Foster, saw him at Trinity College playing for Saint Thomas Aquinas of New Britain against South Catholic of Hartford, who was led by a pretty decent player named John Pinone. Foster's speed level was jaw dropping, never saw anything remotely like it from a high school player. Unfortunately, both schools have been closed for many years now. Foster played at UCLA and Pinone, of course, played at Villanova.
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Sorry, I'll take my Northwest Catholic Indians of 1979 - 1980 over any other HCC teams. Norman Bailey and Marcus Brown were the best. We played Hillhouse for the state finals that year and barely lost. Norman went on to wash out at UConn and Marcus is one hell of a guy.

As for the ladies, the two best I've seen were Bella Santoro and Megan Deville of Mercy. Monsters on the court at that level in this state.
 
Bama fan said:
Best I saw in person was Suzie McConnell. She played her high school ball at Seton-LaSalle high school in Pittsburgh,Pa. Seton LaSalle was the coeducational successor to my alma mater of South Hills Catholic. The McConnell sisters were fine athletes.
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Bama, unless I am mistaken she later became a coach, not sure where. I think some of the best high school women's teams in the Pittsburgh area came from Oakland Catholic which was not too far from my parents house. When I was a kid I followed the Duquense Dukes. Dudey Moore was coach and he was the first coach in college basketball to start three black players. He got a lot of heat for it and he won a lot of games. I believe they won the NIT when that was recognized as the national championship game. Course it's 9:30 am and I can't remember if I've had breakfast.
 
Steelerone said:
Bama, unless I am mistaken she later became a coach, not sure where. I think some of the best high school women's teams in the Pittsburgh area came from Oakland Catholic which was not too far from my parents house. When I was a kid I followed the Duquense Dukes. Dudey Moore was coach and he was the first coach in college basketball to start three black players. He got a lot of heat for it and he won a lot of games. I believe they won the NIT when that was recognized as the national championship game. Course it's 9:30 am and I can't remember if I've had breakfast.
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Yeah. She coached the Minnesota Lynx, and then had a stint at Pitt. She is now at Upper St Clair High School with her husband Pete Serio.
 
Best I ever saw in HS was Daphane White. I went with my brother-in-law, WBB biggest nut, and Daphane totally dominate the game. However her college performance apparently has not lived up to the potential she showed in HS. I believe the best WBB Player I saw play on TV was Breanna Stewart, she dominated every aspect of the game.
 
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whalerfan said:
Sorry, I'll take my Northwest Catholic Indians of 1979 - 1980 over any other HCC teams. Norman Bailey and Marcus Brown were the best. We played Hillhouse for the state finals that year and barely lost. Norman went on to wash out at UConn and Marcus is one hell of a guy.
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NWCH holds a special place in my heart as well and I was at that game at Central Connecticut, Saint Patrick`s Day 1979, LL finals, and the opponent was Wilbur Cross, not Hillhouse. Incredibly exciting game, Norman was phenominal, Northwest lost by one point 74-73, heartbreaking but the most exciting high school game ever. Talent galore out there. One of the Wilbur Cross stars was sophomore Earl Kelley.

Northwest also had a terrific sophomore named Ulysses Garcia who went on to star at the University of Hartford. I guarded him in a rec league game many years later and managed to hold him to around 42 points.

As good as those players were, they were not at Rod Foster`s level.

Aquinas won the Class M title that year and he averaged over 30 ppg. Went on to play at UCLA, started as a freshman for the team that went to the NCAA finals, and went on to play for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA. His career was ended by a badly broken leg in a jeep accident.
 
The best female high school basketball player I ever saw period was Candace Parker. I watched her on television in an Illinois High School Association State Championship game, the original March madness.
 
Huskee11 said:
NWCH holds a special place in my heart as well and I was at that game at Central Connecticut, Saint Patrick`s Day 1979, LL finals, and the opponent was Wilbur Cross, not Hillhouse. Incredibly exciting game, Norman was phenominal, Northwest lost by one point 74-73, heartbreaking but the most exciting high school game ever. Talent galore out there. One of the Wilbur Cross stars was sophomore Earl Kelley.

Northwest also had a terrific sophomore named Ulysses Garcia who went on to star at the University of Hartford. I guarded him in a rec league game many years later and managed to hold him to around 42 points.

As good as those players were, they were not at Rod Foster`s level.

Aquinas won the Class M title that year and he averaged over 30 ppg. Went on to play at UCLA, started as a freshman for the team that went to the NCAA finals, and went on to play for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA. His career was ended by a badly broken leg in a jeep accident.
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It was 40 years ago so forgive me. We're a HCC family here. My wife played at Aquinas and I played football at Northwest. My daughter just graduated from St. Paul. HCC pride. I'm well aware of Garcia. I graduated with him and dealt with his "wonderful" personality on the AAU circuit. Not a fan. The lesson learned from Foster is when your Jeep is tipping over, don't stick your leg out.
 
chrissaran said:
Female basketball player. Learn to read.
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Guess my Northwest education didn't pay off. Like I said before Bella Santoro and Megan Deville from Mercy. You'd have seen that if you saw my first response.
 
donalddoowop said:
Who is the best female high school basketball player you ever saw in person and who is the best female high school basketball player, excluding mix tapes, you ever saw period, whether in person, youtube, television or videos?
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Keep in mind that I saw Tina, EDD and Stewie play multiple times as high school players and none of these would even make my top three. The most impressive HS player I ever saw live was Vicki Baugh in the 2006 West Coast Jamboree. The second best was Samantha Parahalis in a game played at Seton Hall in December 2007. Samantha's competition that day was not exactly weak but she wanted to challenge herself and played the entire game with her off hand and still dominated. The third best I ever saw was Matee Ajavon who took her Shabazz squad to West Chester University in November of 2003. Shabazz lost that day but Matee was magical and unguardable.
 
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Maya Moore was the best I ever saw as a hs player..I remember her guarding a player who was inbounding the ball after her team scored(she made that basket of course) jumping up and tipped the ball to herself and of course scored..She scored 37 pts in that half iirc.....I think she sold yearbooks during halftime too...
 
I have not seen a high school game of any sort in more than 50 years, so I can't answer the posted question. But if the question can be expanded to the best female athlete.

The best female athlete I ever saw, probably the most dominant athlete I ever saw, was Joan Joyce, pitcher for the Raybestos Brakettes. 150 no-hitters, 50 perfect games,
 
Oops, I forgot I saw Seimone Augustus in a Regional Final here in Seattle. I think that was her breakout Soph year. Another good one.
 
I haven't watched greedy professional sports since the 90s and the only college sport I follow is UConn women. But I do follow lots of high school sports; it's local, exciting, commercial-free and relatively inexpensive, eh?
Since both of my daughters played for Christ the King High School, I have seen all the gr8 CK players over the years - Margaret McKeon [1st Miss NY State Girls' Basketball], Jill Cook, Darlene Saar, Debbie Hemery, Nakia Hill, Chamique Holdsclaw, Sue Bird, and Tina Charles. Playing against Christ the King, I have seen Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, Sammie Prahalis, Epiphany Prince and Breanna Stewart, the latter at the Gauchos gym in the Bronx.
However, my vote for "best high school player" that I saw has to go to Chamique who was unstoppable in every game I saw. And my daughter, All-City herself, can attest to the fact that Chamique was unstoppable in practice too! Yes, Chamique was unstoppable at every level, college and professional as well.
 
Best boys' high school player I have seen was Pearl Washington out of Boys' High in Brooklyn.
 
Huskee11 said:
NWCH holds a special place in my heart as well and I was at that game at Central Connecticut, Saint Patrick`s Day 1979, LL finals, and the opponent was Wilbur Cross, not Hillhouse. Incredibly exciting game, Norman was phenominal, Northwest lost by one point 74-73, heartbreaking but the most exciting high school game ever. Talent galore out there. One of the Wilbur Cross stars was sophomore Earl Kelley.

Northwest also had a terrific sophomore named Ulysses Garcia who went on to star at the University of Hartford. I guarded him in a rec league game many years later and managed to hold him to around 42 points.

As good as those players were, they were not at Rod Foster`s level.

Aquinas won the Class M title that year and he averaged over 30 ppg. Went on to play at UCLA, started as a freshman for the team that went to the NCAA finals, and went on to play for the Phoenix Suns in the NBA. His career was ended by a badly broken leg in a jeep accident.
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Although this thread is supposed to be about female high school players, you mentioned someone I used to read about when he was a senior, "Jeep" Kelley. He was supposed to be so very good but once he left the East coast, he disappeared. I always wondered what happened to him and if he was another over hyped East coast player. I am assuming Earl Kelley is "Jeep" Kelley.
 
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